2Sep/10Off
Style, Substance and You
I was thinking about how people relate to each other and stumbled over a piece of the puzzle I wanted to share with you. It's discussed in this article (and associated book title) but I wanted to apply it more toward human interaction and not just why people go to Starbucks when McDonald's also serves coffee.
Last year I was driving The Lady and other people nuts trying to organize group activities and socially relevant things to do. I pursued it with the same focus and intensity that Lizzie Borden showed toward her parents. The results were predictable. I had to reconcile some different ideas and I think I've gotten to a point where I need to write this down, for myself as much as for you.
26Aug/10Off
The Smug Mug
The good thing about living sensibly is that you know you'll eventually be proved to be right. The bad thing about living sensibly is that 'eventually' can mean anywhere from 1 week to 30 years. Bill Watterson - the creator of Calvin and Hobbes - said it best: "Virtue needs some cheaper thrills." Living sensibly means that you exist on a longer timeline. You forgo the faster, cheaper success for the long term accomplishment. Existing on that timeline means that you have to tune out the noise from the party and keep reminding yourself "It's hard but it's worth it ... I want the long-term goal."
19Aug/10Off
Backpacking II – The Madness of Crowds
Life is about navigating the space between ideas - I think I've mentioned that before. Orson Welles said it thusly:
For thirty years people have been asking me how I reconcile X with Y! The truthful answer is that I don't. Everything about me is a contradiction and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There is a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don't reconcile the poles. You just recognize them.
The thing that I've been thinking about since I got back is this - tell me what you think. One of the biggest challenges of the trip was the fact that I hadn't trained enough to go. I didn't know what I was getting myself into and I paid the price. Going from sea level to 8,000 feet and then hiking to 9,500 feet is something I wouldn't recommend for anyone but the most dedicated masochist. Surrounded by all that beauty, I was miserable - I could barely breathe. I was huffing and puffing like a fat guy climbing to the cheap seats and it was quite embarrassing. Altitude sickness is nothing to sneeze at but somehow I thought at 9,000 feet it wouldn't be much of a factor.
And maybe it isn't ... maybe I was just out of shape.
So I thought about why I hadn't pushed myself harder and a philosophical discussion ensued.
17Aug/10Off
Backpacking I
Some quick notes and pics from the backpacking trip last weekend. All I can say at this point was, 'it was one of the hardest things I have ever done.' I'm still trying to put together how I feel about it and once I have that figured out, I'll talk about it here. In the meantime, please enjoy this footage of Momma Bear being chased by a park ranger and some snaps from the trip. Cheers.